I don't post much out-of-character anymore, but I feel it's necessary to give my two cents here. Much of what I may say will echo sentiments from others but with my own...twist(?) on them.
System design:
-What would you like to see future system design focus more on, and why? Some examples: visuals, gameplay, story progression, hazards, treasure hunts, environmental storytelling, etc.
Smuggling. Plain and simple. This is kind of a tie in to Econ. but with smuggling (and trade routes in general) they kind of go hand-in-hand. The snub only systems in the vein of Copernicus and Omega-55 are awesome, but they still don't feel threatening. Sure, explosive fields will drop my shields, but they do nothing to my hull. I tested this in an Arrow in Copernicus and hit several explosive fields with the ship. That should have shredded me instantly. These systems should be ways to avoid the law, or disappear ass over end into a dangerous system to loose a pursuer or cut valuable time off your trade route, not just as shortcuts between regions or treasure hunts.
-What do you think current systems, on average, suffer from the most? Use the above examples. An additional example: Overcrowdedness (lack of barren, dangerous space) can be a valid reason as well.
More deep space systems that exist outside of Earhart.
-Would you rather the Systems team focused more on reworking existing systems, adding new systems, removing obsolete ones, or a balance of everything?
Ideally, all of the above. A balance is important. I'm an vehemently against removing any systems that have activity in them. I'm still against the removal of Xi and Munich as there was plenty of activity there between Rheinland, Corsairs, and Outcasts, but it is what it is. Systems that have no use though? Yeah, I can see those being deleted or reworked. What I would like to see if more story tied into the removal of these systems. The story around Alberta comes to mind as an example (despite it still technically existing).
-Where and how do you think existing systems could be enhanced with environmental storytelling and worldbuilding? Example: How would you make systems like Hamburg, Tau-23, or Hokkaido more interesting?
Using one of your examples in Tau-23 (since I spent a lot of time there during my SLRC days), I would utilize the static Baxter Anomaly there as a story beat. I would make it larger every two weeks and see if anyone notices it growing. By the time it reached the size of a standard Jump gate, someone might notice and make some reports on the forums about it's alarming growth. Have events surrounding it with the IMG getting worried about needing to evacuate Java Station. Have the Baxter Anomaly spawns start doing actual damage to passerby's when they spawn to great an atmosphere of danger. Either have it culminate in the area continuing to be dangerous or have the Baxter Anomaly calm down after a while. Maybe make this a regular event with the spawnable Baxter Anomalies dropping more Sci-data during that time to create an artificial gold rush.
Travel times:
-Would you like to see travel times between two regions' hubs increase, decrease, or be kept the same? Example: New York - Omicron Delta.
-Would you like to see travel times between two regions' most distant points increase, decrease, or be kept the same? Example: Vespucci - Omicron Mu.
-Would you like to see travel times without using trade lanes decrease? How would you do it? Example: A Liberty Rogue inside of Liberty not using trade lanes or jump gates for inRP reasons.
Honestly, I think things are just fine as they are for travel times, personally.
System connectivity:
-Do you think systems, on average, have too few, or too many connections? Do you think the concept of having defined activity hub systems per region is good or bad?
The narrowization (is that a word? I don't think so) of many jump holes are questionable to me. Narrowing them down to try to force interaction feels bad to me. Certain ones needed pruning but I think there needs to be more unstable snub Jump holes or a way to temporarily stabilize collapsed Jump hole connections to allow a one use passage at extreme risk of destroying your ship.
Hub systems are fine (like Earhart) but overdoing it might seem gimmicky. Per region, such as Liberty, Kusari, etc. are fine. That's how it was in vanilla and I think it's fine as it is now.
-Do you think all systems should have an equal number of connections, instead of sacrificing some over the other? Example: Sidelining Omicron Kappa in favor of Omicron Theta.
I'm against most dead end systems from a personal standpoint, but some I think it makes sense. Equal numbers of connections is boring. Some systems should have many, while some should have few. It keeps the feeling of randomization in the universe instead of something that's "preordained".
-How much value do you put on connections of a system? Would you be satisfied with a system being sidelined connections-wise, but having importance in another aspect instead such as interesting gameplay or story asset relevance, and why? Example: Dublin, Omicron Pi.
I don't know about sidelining, but if the story draws me in enough concerning it's reasoning, it would probably be acceptable as long as it isn't overdone.
-Would you like to see a) fewer systems with more connections, or b) more systems with fewer connections? Example image:
Difficult question. I think I would like a balance of both. The core systems (Houses) should be more interconnected whilst the edge worlds should be more sparse.
5.0 feedback:
-Give us your brief 5.0 feedback - system addition/removal, reworks, merges, connections, gameplay aspects such as hazards, treasure hunts, flavor wrecks, overall environmental changes.
-What did you like the most?
I would have to say the snub only systems were very interesting. Omicron Pi is a pretty neat and mysterious system that I go back to a lot on various ships. Earhart too is cool, but it also has many components that I don't like.
Hazards don't feel hazardous enough. I lose shields when flying through certain areas but rarely lose much hull even in lightly armored ships such as Light Fighters. Radiation damage is dangerous but...that feels like the only real danger here.
-What didn't you like at all?
Larger ships being unable to enter the gates in Earhart and there being only one way in aside from Jump drives.
The only way in physically is through Alaska.
If you want to get in without being shot to shit, you have to cloak through the Omicron Minor entry point or through New York and get to the Supergate.
If you don't want to do that, you need someone with a JD3 or JD4. If you don't have a friend or have one yourself, good luck.
If you want to go there to mine and don't want to go through Alaska, have a JD3 or JD4, or have a friend that can jump you, you're SOL.
If you're helping friends collect items from the Uncharted, you just have to sit in Earhart doing nothing while they go in to collect and do nothing.
If you want to RP a large research ship gathering data in the uncharted systems, you're out of luck. I know that it's to prevent people getting a lot of items easily by mining, but there has to be a way to prevent targeted mining (selecting someone and shooting stuff) without limiting larger ships from getting into those systems...right?
In my opinion, the system is nearly there, you're just missing some pieces. An alternate entry point that jumps around weekly would be ideal for players to get into Earhart without needing to go through Alaska would be perfect. Maybe use some of those Jump holes hidden in Baxter Anomalies as entry points that rotate every week?
Just some of my ideas. Sorry if I went off on tangents on a few of those, I blame my ADHD. Don't at me.
~Leo
You fear oblivion. Yet you forget. The universe remembers every atom of your being. Even dust hums your name in the dark. Roleplay is dead. Long live Powertraders and PvP I guess.
![[Image: iacPOZc.png]](https://i.imgur.com/iacPOZc.png)